Conference News: What I learned this week – January 20
America, the Beautiful: Aspen Ideas Festival has announced that it is partnering with the iPhone Photography Awards, for its first ever photo contest. The America I Know track at the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival will consider the divided U.S. post-election and how bridges can be built across these divides. As part of the track, the conference team would like “to explore as many “Americas” [as possible] through the modern camera lens.” The contest is open to participants worldwide, and per the contest site, they are looking for photos of “the faces, places, and symbols that represent America – whether you’ve lived in the US your whole life or you’ve only seen it in the movies.” All images must be taken with an iPhone or iPad and submitted here by 31 March. Two winners will receive passes to the Aspen Ideas Festival from 22 July – 1 July 2017.
Day after (Web) Tomorrow: After growing to 1,300 attendees in 2016, WebTomorrow, self-described as “the meeting point for everyone who is active in the digital scene,” has added a second day of content. WebTomorrow 2017 will take place from 8 – 9 June in Ghent, Belgium.
Collision of the Planet:tech: One of the twelve conferences happening at CollisionConf (2-4 May) this year will bring together “the world’s leading innovative startups, business giants, influencers and controversial voices from the worlds of sustainability, environmental tech, and energy efficiency.” The new conference, called Planet:tech, will showcase innovations created to fight the forces of climate change and pollution. Learn more here.
Speaking Opportunity: The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) has opened its CFP for technical papers and poster sessions. IBC is interested in submissions from “every discipline, whether you are a professional or a professor, a member of a R&D team, working alone or within a global brand and from across any part of the broadcast, communications, electronic media and entertainment fields.” Paper abstracts should be submitted online by 6 February. If accepted, authors will be invited to prepare full white papers and give a 20-minute presentation at the IBC Conference on 14 – 18 September 2017.
Lunchtime Learning: Unless you were one of the few lucky world leaders or executives to be at the World Economic Forum this week, you probably were not able to catch all of the amazing policy-shaping content that came out of Davos. Luckily, most of the sessions were recorded for our viewing pleasure.
Coming Up Next: Next week, “the definitive global market and conference for the business of unscripted and non-fiction entertainment,” Realscreen Summit, will gather content developers, distributors and broadcasters in Washington D.C. for four days of networking. Also in D.C., the Congressional Internet Caucus’ 13th Annual State of the Net Conference will discuss topics such as ethical digital citizenship and surveillance reform. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting will convene 4,100 “scientists, educators, students, and other professionals from across the weather, water, and climate community” in Seattle. And the Handelsblatt Strategic IT Management Conference will be held next week in Munich.